The term "insulation displacement" as used in this specification refers generally to the method of forming an electrical connection with an insulated connector by the use of any device which simultaneously pierces the insulation and forms an electrical connection with the conductor. Such a device is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 866,181, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This patent relates to insulation displacement technology which is applied to multiconductor flat cables typically used as computer signal lines. These cables are often relatively small in size and include closely spaced conductors. The use of insulation displacement technology for the termination of multiconductor flat cables is well known in the industry. This technology has provided a fast and inexpensive method for connecting and terminating multiconductor flat cables and is described in numerous patents. One long-standing problem in the art has been caused by the fact that the spacing between conductors within multiconductor flat cables and the spacing between conductors within termination connectors have not been standardized throughout the industry.
The prior art has attempted to solve this problem with the use of adaptive connectors for connecting between connectors having one spacing or pitch and connectors having another spacing or pitch. The word "pitch" is used in this specification as a synonymous term with the phrase "spacing between conductors." In the prior art, such adaptive connectors were formed by using a connector body housing plural conductive inserts, with each insert being individually and uniquely formed to provide a precise amount of offset. Each insert typically has two connectively engageable ends which are relatively offset to correspond with the difference in pitch between the two connectors or cables to be connected by the adaptive connector. Such an offset is cumulative for a connector involving a plurality of such conductive inserts. Thus, each insert had an individually unique amount of offset, and the prior art was forced to manufacture such adaptive connectors using the expensive process of individually forming each conductive insert. Therefore, an adaptive connector involving, for example, 15 conductors, would typically have 15 uniquely formed, or uniquely stamped, conductive inserts, each insert having a unique place for location within the connective adaptor.
As is apparent from the above, the prior art adaptive connectors involve very expensive manufacturing costs, involving different tooling for each conductive insert for each connective adapter. Furthermore, the actual process of fabrication was expensive because each conductive insert had a unique position in the adaptive connector, and any error in location or emplacement of such a conductive insert into the adaptive connector would result in a defective adaptive connector, incapable of making the desired connection between conductors or cables of a different pitch. It was seemingly apparent to the prior art that fabrication of an adaptive connector necessarily required differently formed conductive inserts for each conductive insert to be inserted into the connective adapter. Thus, the prior art taught that such an adaptive conductor could not be fabricated from plural uniformly stamped conductive inserts.
Other prior art involved an even more expensive method of essentially wiring together two sets of connectors of a different pitch, requiring the individual soldering of wires between conductive inserts.